<p>deb922 - I am about -16. My mother has very poor vision - close to legally blind - so I consider myself Fortunate. I have been under the impression that my eye doctor has given me the best glasses possible, but after reading a few of these comments, I think it is worth revisiting. If I had a pair of glasses that I was happy with, it wouldn’t be such an issue to only be able to wear my contacts for 7-8 hours.</p>
<p>I have been wearing frameless glasses for years now. SO much better than being conscious of the frame in one’s field of vision all the time, and they don’t dominate one’s face the same way. The are also much lighter.</p>
<p>I have a large head, and most frames are too small for me, and thus uncomfortable. That, plus I have never found glasses that looked good on me in the slightest. I can only find the least-worst.</p>
<p>This is a great thread. About 4 years ago my doc put me in bifocals. However I am in the very tiny percentage that sees small print better without my glasses… I too tried different contacts and if the distance was good, I then couldn’t see my phone. I mostly wear my glasses, but when I do wear contacts, I usually just put one in. Lol. It’s the only way I can see small print</p>
<p>Massively myopic, I started wearing glasses at age 9, and by the time I was 15 I was wearing hard contacts. I have sensitive eyes, and the hard contacts were very uncomfortable for me, but sheer vanity made me wear them for years. Then I moved to NYC and started seeing a prominent ophthalmologist who at the time was one of the handful of docs authorized by the FDA to prescribe soft contacts before they were okayed for general use. He added me to his study, and I found that I tolerated soft contacts fairly well and continued to wear them into my forties. But when I started needing reading glasses on top of the contacts AND developed mild astigmatism that wasn’t correctable with contacts I could tolerate, I realized I was heartily sick of the whole contact lens thing (I was allergic to most of the sterilizing solutions; I couldn’t wear multi-day lenses–nothing was simple) and had lost all vanity. I’ve worn progressives–with those relatively thin lenses discussed above–for years now. I had no trouble adjusting, don’t have to tilt my head or move the glasses on my nose to see properly at all distances (if you do, I think you haven’t been prescribed or fitted properly), and I love being liberated from contacts and their complications. I found an online vendor that manufactures decent looking clip-ons that are customized to one’s frames, and I’m good to go all year round. The next time I post about my vision, I’ll probably be discussing cataracts…</p>
<p>I was told by my ophthalmologist that those of us who are severely myopic have an easier time adjusting to progressive lenses than people with better vision. I was used to them in 24 hours. My husband, who wears glasses but has relatively good vision (at least compared to mine) had headaches for two weeks until he got used to his.</p>
<p>I always thought my prescription was pretty strong at -7,but WOW -12 and -16! Count me in among the severely myopic and unhappy with progressive lenses.</p>
<p>For those of you having trouble with progressives, how many of you also have an astigmatism? I’m wondering if that is a contributing factor.</p>
<p>I began wearing glasses at 9 for myopia and astigmatism. I wore semi permeable contact lenses from age 18 to 28ish when I could no longer tolerate the deposits and dry/irritated eyes. At that point I was hoping to undergo radial keratotomy (the knife predecessor to Lasik) but the surgeon temporarily damaged the epithelial tissue of my eye with cleansing alcohol remaining on one of the prep instruments, so he decided to postpone surgery so as not to risk any unnecessary complications. Needless to say, I bailed on the surgery! Suddenly glasses didn’t seem so bad.</p>
<p>Fast forward about 20 years. I got old and needed reading glasses. My experience with progressive lenses has been similar to that of others mentioned upthread: holding my head in awkward positions, sliding my glasses up or down on my nose, looking out of different parts of the lens to find the allusive right spot. Sometimes I will find a good spot, only to have it fade to underwater blurriness within minutes. This frustration occurs for reading, midrange and distant vision. I have also worn a second pair of reading glasses over my progressives for reading as mentioned by a few others. I also have lots of floaters, but that’s another story.</p>
<p>I am curious about MommaJ’s theory about an improper fit. I am generally happy with my vision immediately upon walking out of the shop with a new pair of glasses, but within a few days, the vision struggles have returned. I have come to believe that it’s just part of aging and I’ll just have to live with it, as neither the optician nor the ophthalmologist are willing to admit an error on their part. They think everything is as it should be. Maybe it’s time for a new ophthalmologist.</p>
<p>At least I’ve been able to find glasses that I think look good on me. I like the way they look, I just don’t like the way I see.</p>
<p>I have done the glasses/contacts hokey pokey for 25 years. If contacts hurt you it’s probably dry eyes. I now have to use restasis drops every morning. Every time I stop some funky weird thing happens to me. I’d stack glasses, sunglasses, contacts - you name it. I also had astigmatisms. I got the lasik after years of resisting. It was a rougher recovery than I anticipated but I can actually see leaves on trees now. Years later I see my vision is getting a little wonky now, but not seriously bad. </p>
<p>SnLMom ~ I am now -11 with astigmatism and have no trouble with the progressives. I am currently looking for a new pair as my prescription has increased. I really hate the shopping as there are so few frames that work for me. My head is smaller than most frames are made for. </p>
<p>I agree that you may want to try another eye professional. This coming from someone who hates change! But I did just change and was overwhelmed at how comprehensive the new optometrist’s exam was as compared to my previous provider. The new one took over an hour with me at my first appointment. With the other one, I barely got 10 minutes of actual one on one time. I was also chalking my problems up to aging and I do try to adapt, but now I know there are other options.</p>
<p>kitty56 - Thanks for the feedback. The opth I was seeing had a good reputation, however it seems that he has become more focused on his profitable Lasik business in recent years , which I have no interest in, so …</p>
<p>Although I have been successful finding frames that I like, I do not enjoy shopping for them as I also have a small, hard-to-fit head. In the past I have actually settled for frames marketed for children. Of course it’s hard to find children’s frames which are not adorned with some sort of juvenile embellishment. </p>
<p>I sometimes wonder… I see things on HDTV in more detail than I see them in real life. I don’t know if that is normal or if it is because I never see things as clearly as I should. </p>
<p>I think that is normal.
Its because real life isnt backlit.</p>
<p>This is a very interesting thread. I desperately need to get an eye exam but I’m not sure what the solution will be, if any. I can see fairly well far, but driving at night is very fuzzy and glarey, and I need about 10 pairs of strategically located cheaters to read anything. I hate how glasses feel on the bridge of my nose, but the readers are annoying my nose too - way down at the end. I wore contacts about 22 years ago, but haven’t since. I don’t know whether to try for some sort of contacts or progressives or bifocals. I’ve been putting this off for years, I guess hoping for some miraculous vision correcting eyedrops to come along.</p>
<p>I got my first pair of glasses in 4th grade…when the writing on the blackboard just got harder and harder to read. I wore the old style hard contact lenses for about 20 years, having been told the soft lenses would not work for my astigmatism. For some reason ( and I personally believe it was the hard contacts) my astigmatism decreased. At the same time the soft lenses became more advanced. I’ve been wearing the Acuvue Oasis for many years now and can keep them in all day and well into the evening. I get all of my ‘stuff’ at Costco and highly highly recommend them. </p>
<p>A while back I went to a mono vision prescription. One side corrected to -3.75 and the other to -4.75 and it works well enough. I did try a type of multi focal but the lens material hurt my eyes. I could wear them for about 3 hours and then my eyes felt dry and the lens felt very ‘thick’. </p>
<p>I had been warned by both professionals and friends that it would take a stretch of time to get used to progressives. So, I tried a bifocal for a bit and that did not work at all! It seemed like no matter what I was doing or how I held my head I was staring right at that stupid line. Luckily I had gotten these at my trusty Costco and they made an exception (they is not an official trial policy for bifocals) for one of their very regular customers ^:)^ and gave me credit toward progressives. I had to promise to wear them for a whole month (no contacts) in order to give it a fair shake. Well, I popped those things on my nose and after about 10 minutes was safely cruising the Costco navigating safely and happily towards free samples and mega packs of paper goods!</p>
<p>So for now, it’s progressives and mono- vision contacts. Having read about other brands of multi-focals I may give them try next time around. And as other posters have mentioned, the absolute best near vision is without any glasses or lenses…so…I just have to plan that chin hair plucking around that limitation!</p>
<p>Too funny. I do my best button sewing with no contacts or glasses. But other than that, I hate my vision.</p>
<p>I wear Air Optix multifocals. I can read well in good light during the day, but forget it in the early morning and evening. Then I need my reading glasses. </p>
<p>It’s really about compromise. If you have a very strong distance prescription (and I do), then it really won’t be possible to correct for reading with the same lens. For example, I need a -7.00 and high reading prescription for my left eye. When I’m in hip restaurants (the kind that are way too dark), I need a flashlight and reading glasses. Aging stinks.</p>
<p>I have worn Air Optix multifocals for 2 years now. My Rx isn’t as strong as Massmomm’s so they really help with driving, movies, TV, etc. I do wear readers for books and now, thanks to the “update”, to navigate this new CC screen set up.</p>
<p>I just remembered what my mom told me about when I first got my glasses. I was in second grade and came home from school and excitedly told her that the teacher writes things on the board! I had no idea… </p>
<p>That reminds me of when D first got her glasses at age 5. She put them on and said “oh wow, I didn’t know that everything was supposed to be so clear. It’s always been blurry!”. Enough to make me feel miserable at being a mom!</p>
<p>I have worn glasses since I was a teenager (probably needed them earlier). My prescription is high - but I was surprised to find folks in this thread with much higher prescriptions! I use Air Optix regular contact lenses now and my doctor keeps telling me that the need for multi focals or mono vision contacts is coming very soon 
Not looking forward to it…</p>
<p>My mom always told us that she never knew that trees had leaves until she got her glasses. She’d only seen big blobs of green (no HDTV in those days :-)!</p>